Tag Archives: urban

Protecting Selangor’s Rivers and Water

Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen.
Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen. Credit: Juliet Jacobs.

11 Dec 2024: In this Earth Matters segment on BFM89.9FM Radio, we discuss the links between Selangor’s costly water cuts and the  health of its rivers. The state government’s aims to protect all its river banks as reserves — could that work?

The show featured journalists Chen Yih Wen and Law Yao Hua, and Kennedy Michael, co-founder of Alliance of River Three (ART!). Produced by Juliet Jacobs on ‘Earth Matters’, 89.9FM Radio.

Based on our story Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply.

[The story is supported by a grant from YELL.]

Co-existing with the Wild in the Valley

The Klang Valley’s rapid development threatens not only our local biodiversity but also the delicate balance required for harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife, writes wildlife conservation advocate Ashwiini Paranjothi.

WILDLIFE IS NOT limited to distant forests; it is present in our cities, adapting to urban life as green spaces shrink. Urban forests like Bukit Kiara and Bukit Gasing in the Klang Valley are home to a variety of species that now share their habitat with humans. The increased proximity has led to more frequent interactions and, unfortunately, more conflicts.

(Feature pic: When monkeys create chaos in neighbourhoods, human patience can run thin. | photo by Animal Neighbours Project)

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What Way If Not the PJD Highway?

While many Petaling Jaya residents don’t want an elevated highway through their community, they are still keen to drive. This is Part 2; read Part 1 for an interactive trip along the PJD highway.

TRAFFIC jams are a painful part of life in the Klang Valley. The Malaysian way to ease traffic, however, appears to focus largely on mega infrastructure: huge, tolled highways that cost hundreds of millions of ringgit to build.

In 2022 alone, two elevated highways were completed: the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH) and the first phase of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Highway (SUKE). 

And the government is evaluating the proposal of yet another elevated highway: the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Expressway (PJD). However, unlike the earlier highways, the PJD would pass through some of the most crowded residential and commercial areas in Petaling Jaya.

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City Farms Growing Resilience

Leadership, training and support help overcome challenges in community farming in Kuala Lumpur’s public housing, sowing success.

WITH FOOD prices ever increasing, community farming for food security among lower income city-dwellers is ever more critical. The pandemic saw the media trumpeting the importance of such programmes.

However, as long as 5 years ago in 2017, the local government in Kuala Lumpur started encouraging the residents of both the Public Housing (PA) and the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) to be involved in community farming. And the programme has sowed some success.

(Photo: Successful community farming projects yield healthy home-grown vegetables that feed all the farmers and their families  | Image by Tan Kai Ren)

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